The thing that I love most about running and fitness in general is there is so much to learn. For a massive nerd like myself this is a very  desirable trait, but tiresome as well. Being as a nerd I can't stop until I know everything there is to know...and then some.

The big lesson for this week is the importance of sleep (I love sleep), and not just quantity but quality (I hate that saying, but whatever). A perfect example of this occurred this weekend with my first back-to-back medium long run attempt. Just 2-12 milers back-to-back, so no big deal, but I plan to get to b2b 15 milers soon. On Friday night I was out, had a few drinks, and didn't get much sleep. My Saturday morning run reflected this. The run itself was decent, 12 miles at 8:05/mile pace, but it took more effort than it should have. Case in point is that during yesterdays run my heart rate was at 164 while I was doing 7:50/mile pace, and today I ran a short 3.5 mile section a 7:20/mile and my heart was...164!! The improved quality of today's run was not explicit only in my heart rate, but the quality today was much better. In fact it was so much better today that I might have pushed a little too hard, ran 12.8 miles with 3.5 at 7:20/mile then ran some huge inclines on a trail section. Think I might have to push Tuesday's speed session to Thursday...my fault for trying to keep up with some 20 year olds

The other lesson is to listen to your body, and especially your feet. For a few weeks now I have had the feeling that my gait was a little off for the shoes I have been wearing. Like I mentioned in my last post the good old place your shoes on a table test was also indicating that

perhaps I needed a different shoe. So I went and had my gait analyzed and the shoe shaman says...that I am very NEUTRAL!! This is crazy to me because when I started running 20 months ago I was in motion control shoes, then support, finally minimal support and now neutral!! Oh well,I am actually very excited because this means my 2nd favorite two words in running NEW SHOES (1st favorite pair is abbreviated PR). I ordered some Asics Speedstars and Adidas Adizero Bostons, so I will be sure to post an update on my shoe adventures.

Last weeks training:

• Tuesday - 10.07 Mile Run w/ Tempo - 1:15:52 min, 30 min @ 6:40 pace

• Wednesday - 3.99 Mile Recovery Run - 35:16 min

• Thursday - 9.84 Mile GA Run - 1:17:13 min

• Friday - 3.2 Mile Recovery Run - 28:17 min

• Saturday - 11.82 Mile Long Run - 1:35:43 min

• Sunday - 12.8 Mile Long Run - 1:42:21 min

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